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Five years ago Richard Ferge and Stani Martinkova, an Anglo-French couple, sold their house to embark on a remarkable and outlandish adventure.

In 2005, Ferge and Martinkova left France and began cycling. Today, more than 45,000 kilometres later, they've reached Thailand.

The journey hasn't been easy. Among the difficulties the couple has faced are physical exhaustion, hostile immigration officers, austere climates and a stolen bicycle.

From France, they pedalled to North Africa and after struggling with a very unsympathetic desert climate, cycled to Northern Europe and into Russia.

What compelled and inspired them to embark on such an adventure? Was it a quest for spiritual and cultural ennoblement or a mid-life crisis? Apparently, neither. It appears that they just wanted to cycle. Martinkova says she's addicted to two wheels. She met Ferge in London in 1996 and the two sealed their relationship by setting off a cycling trip, which lasted three and a half years. They pedalled from Alaska to Argentina's Tierra del Fuego, which is known as the "end of the world" and is the last hospitable settlement before the vast, white expanse of Antarctica.

"Cycling is ecological, practical and healthy. You are more exposed, you can hear and smell,'' says Ferge, adding that somewhere along the road, he has developed a deeper appreciation and consideration for the environment. He's profoundly saddened by the gratuitous and unrelenting destruction of rainforests that he has witnessed and wants to use stops on this trip to publicise the severe repercussions of deforestation, which continues to manifest itself through economically damaging and harmful phenomena such as landslides and intense floods.

He also urges those he meets to be bolder and explore unconventional holiday destinations. Ferge and Martinkova have visited many intriguing places during their trip and were particularly impressed by Mongolia. They were struck by the customs and gestures of this vast country and were astounded by the Gobi desert, which they describe as a land of bizarre and pristine natural beauty.

Mongolia offers a diversity of attractions from fishing to hunting and riding. And, says Ferge, "It's really easy to put up a tent."

"We were alone on the road, well actually there wasn't really a road; we would sometimes cycle in dried out river banks,'' adds Martinkova.

The couple was also fascinated by Tunisia, Algeria and also Siberia where Ferge's bicycle was stolen. The custom-made reinforced bike, of which he was very proud, was recovered by police but it had been badly tarnished.

"It was my fault, I was meant to keep watch. You see, we take turns sleeping and before we got on the train, someone just took Richard's bike," says Martinkova.

The couple delved into China, which they ''loved and hated''. They describe the Chinese as friendly but are concerned at their lack of ecological consideration and understanding.

Ferge and Martinkova regard travel as an education and the best path to intellectual enrichment and encourage others to search and explore. But while they've made travel their life, they also realise that few people have the luxury of taking off on an extended cycling tour.

And of course, there's the money. The couple tries, where possible, to live a maximum of on US$15 (Bt500) a day and the two have temporarily found refuge on Bangkok's back sois.

They say that they find Thailand more comfortable than many other destinations, as the nation has copious resources to share with foreigners. They have enough money to continue their journey into the foreseeable future and are next planning to pedal on to Indonesia and then to Australia to explore the Great Sandy Desert and the great ocean road. After that, they say, who knows?

For Ferge and Martinkova, this journey is an ongoing lifetime accomplishment and they see themselves as the modest pioneers of a rewarding ''adventure-type voyage''.